THAO has today released her new single and video titled ‘Sick of the Times’, from her first album in 6 years, ‘Show Me’, co-produced with Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner of Tune-Yards, due out October 30 via Kill Rock Stars.
THAO has never been interested in coloring inside anyone else’s lines, and ‘Sick of the Times’ feels like another glorious act of creative insubordination. The video barrels forward with purpose, channeling frustration into movement instead of misery. Every frame seems determined to remind us that outrage does not have to be passive and that great art can still throw a punch without losing its soul. While plenty of artists settle for vague gestures dressed up as statements, THAO actually commits to the bit and comes away looking fearless.
Visually, the clip keeps its energy alive through an atmosphere that feels urgent without becoming chaotic for chaos’s sake. The performance is magnetic because it never pretends to be polished beyond recognition. It embraces humanity, imperfections, and collective strength with a confidence that makes the entire production feel alive. That authenticity is worth far more than another glossy music video packed with expensive distractions and absolutely nothing to say.
The addition of Tune-Yards and The Linda Lindas turns an already compelling track into a genuine communal experience. Their voices collide with THAO’s in a way that feels organic rather than calculated, creating a rallying cry that grows more powerful with every chorus. Few collaborations manage to sound this natural because too many feature lists exist for algorithms instead of actual chemistry. This one sounds like everyone showed up because they genuinely believed in the message.
Musically, ‘Sick of the Times’ thrives on tension. The driving rhythms, sharp guitars, and infectious hooks create a pulse that refuses to sit still, while the vocal performances balance urgency with optimism. Every element pushes toward the same destination without stepping on each other, making the song feel enormous without becoming bloated. That is a trick far more difficult than many arena sized acts would like to admit.
‘Sick of the Times’ lands as more than a lead single. It announces that THAO has returned with renewed purpose and zero interest in playing it safe. The video captures that spirit with conviction, humor, grit, and enough artistic confidence to leave an impression long after the final frame fades. Anyone waiting for another disposable protest song can keep scrolling because THAO, Tune-Yards, and The Linda Lindas have delivered one with enough heart and backbone to actually matter.
Featured image by Kimberly Ha.
‘Show Me’ Tracklist
- Fossils
- Sick of the Times (ft. Tune-Yards & The Linda Lindas)
- Nguyen Nguyen Lose Lose (ft. Adrian Quesada)
- Take It Easy
- Give & Want
- Enemy
- Jeans Genes
- How I Needed You
- Catch As Catch Can (ft. Neko Case)
- Close Up
- Show Me
About THAO
Primal, expansive, sexy and wrenchingly tender-hearted, critically acclaimed songwriter and performer THAO has announced her first album in six years. Titled quite appropriately Show Me – due out October 30 via Kill Rock Stars – the new collection is a deeply personal exploration of her journey toward full embodiment; a flaying of flesh and old burden to reveal the rapturously beating heart therein. It is a suite of lush, lovingly crafted and powerfully voiced songs that act as portals into THAO’s kaleidoscopic inner life. Show Me was self-produced alongside Nate Brenner (also a co-writer) and Merrill Garbus of Tune-Yards and features special guests: Tune-Yards, The Linda Lindas, Neko Case and Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas).
Lead single “Sick of the Times” is an art-rock protest anthem made for community activation and organizing. It is a sure fire anthem of and for these times and arrives alongside a powerful official video. Featuring vocals from powerhouse punks The Linda Lindas and close friend and collaborator Merrill Garbus of Tune-Yards (who are also featured in the video), the song thrums and seethes and soothes, the infectious synth drum hook leading us into punk rock battle, the vocals uplifting and defiant. “I wanted it to be an anthem that will be used at political rallies, grass roots organizing and mutual aid events, anything that can help us emotionally prepare to activate and to stay politically engaged at all levels, but especially at the local level,” says Nguyen. “We need to keep each other buoyant, to remind ourselves we’ve got the numbers and the imperative.” Putting action to her ideas, THAO has teamed up once again with Working Families Power to donate $1 per ticket for her newly announced west coast dates.
Sometimes life starts educating you before you are ready to receive the lesson. In the midst of her multidisciplinary artistic forays, THAO’s personal life underwent a reckoning: divorce, the upending of a home. “I learned that the point of life is not to emerge unscathed, and that I don’t want to operate as I always have — masking fear as indifference,” she says. “This album is a real-time record-keeping of my life evolving into a different relationship with love and desire over the last few years. For example, I came out publicly years ago but I’ve never really written a song about sex or queer identity. So, that’s in there,” she winks. “Some songs are snapshots of moments I’ve never felt before. Some are ruminations of what I need to keep, what I want to shear, what I want to move toward.” In the shearing spirit, out went her long-time band name — Thao and the Get Down Stay Down. Show Me is a record of that journey.
The beloved songwriter has been endlessly busy outside the realm of record making since her last lauded album Temple: guest-hosting the iconic Song Exploder podcast, hosting the PBS TV show Southern Storytellers, developing a musical, film scoring and film starring (with collaborator/ Macarthur Fellow artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen, currently on exhibit in contemporary art institutions), gracing the cover of New York Times’s T Magazine, performing on Fred Armisen’s 2018 Netflix special Standup for Drummers and working on her first book for renowned publisher Graywolf Press. But THAO is a stage commanding recording artist first and foremost, and she is thrilled to be back in our ears and live in our sights.
LINKS:
https://thaothaothao.com/
https://www.facebook.com/andnowthao/
https://www.instagram.com/thaogetstaydown